I can't believe that I am just now seeing this! I followed the link in your signature. What a wonderful, wonderful story. I feel so happy for you. I consider you one of my friends here at 3FC. You inspire me and I am sure that you inspire others. You are a great person and so deserve this happiness!

I love your mentality. I also put everything on results (is the scale moving?). I decided recently to just try to live healthier and hopefully the scale will follow. You are living proof that commitment, above all, works. CONGRATS! You have reached a definite goal.

I totally relate to your story. I get addicted to thing way too easy also.
I went to OA a long time ago and got hooked on their crazy way of eating and have tried to cut myself off from potatoes, corn, bread, grapes, bananas, and the list goes on. I CAN'T STAY ON A LOW CARB WAY OF EATING!!!! Counting calories sounds much better. Maybe if I had a potato with dinner I wouldn't feel like overeating on junk later. My question for you is..
1. Did you give up any foods during your beginning calorie counting?
2. How did you track your progress?
3. Did you ever drink 1 coke or have one piece of cake during your year?

1. Did you give up any foods during your beginning calorie counting?
2. How did you track your progress?
3. Did you ever drink 1 coke or have one piece of cake during your year?

Did I give up any foods? The only "food" I gave up was pop. In the beginning I ate a lot of processed "healthy" foods that were already counted for me. These were things like Slim Fast, Lean Cuisine and protein bars. I soon found that I was lethargic and constipated and folks on this board suggested it might be my diet. Slowly I switched those out and have been much better for it! Also at the beginning I ate strictly six meals per day at 200 calories each. I do not journal because that is just something else I could potentially give up, HOWEVER, the best advice out there for MOST people is to journal every bite before it hits your mouth. I stand by that advice.

How did I track my progress? I used the scale and measurements and clothing fit and pictures. The biggest change for me was going from weighing weekly (and obsessing over the scale) to weighing daily (and not obsessing over the scale). Weighing daily taught me a lot about what exactly to expect from my body and when. I now know that it's very normal for me to lose big one week out of every month and stall the other three. That is my pattern. When I weighed weekly I just saw three weeks of a stall and one week of a huge loss. That was very frustrating.

As for pop or cake, no I did not have any pop at all, and still have not. That is the only thing I cut out and I did so because one, it's a huge trigger food for me. I had stopped drinking pop before for as much as six months, but that first drink always led to full on cravings again. So this time I just gave it up completely. Also, I did not and do not wish to drink my calories. But cake? Ice cream? Or my absolute favorite, chocolate? I eat all that in moderation, frequently actually. It is definitely in my calorie budget. But I was never a binge eater. I know I always have control over my portion sizes with treats. They do cause cravings now and then, but I know that if I can go without for three days and just get through those three days, I will be good to go again.